Demonstrate Evidence Of Knowledge And Skills For An IT Project Manager

Activity 1: Outlining Business, Technological, and Organizational Aspects

Project Name:  Setting up network connections in the new office of Samantha’s Boutique

Project Brief: ‘Samantha’s Boutique’, located in Alice Springs, is a family run small sized boutique that specializes in customized clothes for plus-size people.

The organization has a significant number of loyal customers who utilize their services on a regular basis and the owner Ms. Samantha Jones has always relied on word of the mouth communication for gaining new visitors.

The project being discussed in this paper is aimed at setting internet connections in the new office of the organization.  The installation of the new connection would allow Ms. Jones to communicate with her clients using internet services like mail, social media pages, etc. Ms. Jones has expressed her interests in creating an online retail store for her shop in the future: the installation of the internet facilities would be the stepping-stone towards that approach.

The concept map of the project, depicting the various activities associated with the same, is depicted below:

Figure: Concept diagram of the project team

(Source: Designed and developed by author)

As mentioned in section 1 of the project, the primary aim of this project is to set up new internet connections at the new office of ‘Samantha’s Boutique’.  Therefore, the scope of the project includes the identification of the requirements of the connection and the identification of internet service providers along with the selection of the plans available for use.  The project would also include the procurement of the devices required for setting up the internet services and the installation of the same.

Project Charter

Project: Setting up network connections in the new office of Samantha’s Boutique

Date:  Please insert

Scope Overview:

The in-scope and out-scope elements of the project have been outlined in the section below:

• Identification of the specific requirements of the internet connection to be set up at ‘Samantha’s Boutique’
• The identification of the devices required for setting up the internet connection.
• The identification of the service providers and plans available
• The procurement of the devices required for the connection and the installation of the same.

• The procurement of the devices to be connected to the network
• Installation and setting up of the devices to be connected to the network

Ms.  Jones, the owner of ‘Samantha’s Boutique’ has placed tender for the installation of network connections at the newly acquired office space. As the organization has so far been using only manual methods   for communicating with their clients and suppliers, the entire process of utilizing the internet for the day-to-day operations is quite alien to them. Hence, the project team would also have to take up the responsibility of selecting the internet service providers, the plans and the devices required for the set up.

From its inception, the boutique has been running at the ancestral home of the family: however, the growth in the number of customers and staff lead Ms. Jones to realize that they require a much spacious location for running the business. Thus, Ms. Jones has decided to relocate the boutique to a new location in the market area of the Alice Spring Town Council.

Activity 2: Creating an Organizational Structure Diagram

The sole objective of this project is   to set up the network connections in this office, such that employees can utilize the internet facilities for conducting their day-to-day operational activities.

1. The installation of the network connection would allow the employees of ‘Samantha’s Boutique’ to conduct several of their operational activities (like communicating with their customers and vendors) over the internet.
2. The project is expected to increase the productivity of the employees, thus enhancing revenue generation.

1. The project includes the identification of all the internet services that the employees of ‘Samantha’s Boutique’ would possible be utilizing and selecting the suitable network plan for the same.
2. The procurement of the network elements (routers, switches, hubs and computer devices) would also be included in the project.

1. The installation of the network connection would allow the organization to make a digital presence.
2. Setting up the network connection would allow the organization to move one step forward towards the implementation of an online retail platform.

The organizational structure of the project team has been provided in the diagram below.

Figure:  Organizational structure of the project team

(Source: Designed and developed by author)

As indicated in the diagram above, the two technicians responsible for setting up the network would report to their team leader, while the members of the procurement team would report to their respective supervisor.

These supervisors, along with the business analyst associated with the team would report to the manger of the project, who in turn communicates directly to the project sponsor.

 The four different corporate culture types, as identified by Cameron and Quinn (1999), include the following:

1. clan corporate culture,
2. adhocracy corporate culture,
3. market corporate culture and
4. hierarchy corporate culture

The stakeholders associated with the project are being outlined in the table below:

Table:  Stakeholder analysis of the project

Tangible costs:  The tangible costs of any project can be defined as those costs that are essential in order to continue its operations. Example of tangible cots includes labor charges, material costs, procurement costs, etc.

Intangible costs: The tangible costs of any project can be defined as the‘unquantifiable cost’ associated with the project, that might compromise with the excepted   benefit of the same.  Example of intangible costs includes loss of goodwill, loss in productivity, etc.

Tangible benefits: The Tangible benefits of any project can be defined as the quantifiable benefits available from the same. Examples: Increased revenue, gain on productivity, etc.

Intangible benefits: The intangible benefits of any project can be defined as the unquantifiable benefits available from the same. Examples: customer satisfaction, improvement of user experiences, etc.

Net Present Value (NPV):  The Net Present Value is a method of calculating the net financial gain or loss expected from a project under progress. It is calculated by finding the differences between the present ‘cash inflow’ and ‘cash outflow’ vale of the project.

Internal rate of return (ROR): Internal rate of return can be defined as that particular rate of interest at which the summation of all cash flow of the business or a project (considering all positive cash flows and negative cash flows) becomes zero.

Return on investment (ROI): The ‘Return on investment’ is essentially a performance measurement tool that utilized to find out the efficiency of any investment made in contrast with some other.  The ROI of any project is calculated using the following formula:

ROI of the project: = (Gain from the project- cost associated with the investment   made in the project)/ cost associated with the investment   made in the project

The benefits of the project are:

Table: Benefits of the project

The following table depicts the NPV calculations of the business for the next 5 years:

Table: NPV calculation

The NPV calculation indicates no significant amount of financial gain would be available from the project in the next 5 years. However, successful implementation of the business would invariably allow the organization to achieve a digital presence and communicate easily with their customers and vendors.  Thus, the owner of the boutique is being recommended to commence with the project.

The SWOT analysis of the project under consideration is being depicted in the following table:

Figure:  SWOT analysis of the project team

(Source: Designed and developed by author)

• Identification of network service provider and plan
• Procurement of network devices
• A working internet set up

• Funding:  $2,500
• Equipment : Network resources  like routers, hubs, etc

• Participation in team meetings is essential
• The team has to report the progress achieved  in the project to the project manager in a weekly fashion

•  Adherence to project plan  results in achievement of project objectives
•  Requirement  identification should mandatorily be conducted in any  project

References

Burke, R. (2013). Project management: planning and control techniques. New Jersey, USA.

Heagney, J. (2016). Fundamentals of project management. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.

Heldman, K. (2015). PMP Project Management Professional Exam Deluxe Study Guide: Updated for the 2015 Exam. John Wiley & Sons.

Hwang, B. G., & Ng, W. J. (2013). Project management knowledge and skills for green construction: Overcoming challenges. International Journal of Project Management, 31(2), 272-284.

Kerzner, H. (2013). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

Leach, L. P. (2014). Critical chain project management. Artech House.

Martinelli, R. J., & Milosevic, D. Z. (2016). Project management toolbox: tools and techniques for the practicing project manager. John Wiley & Sons.

Mir, F. A., & Pinnington, A. H. (2014). Exploring the value of project management: linking project management performance and project success. International Journal of Project Management, 32(2), 202-217.

Phillips, J. (2013). PMP, Project Management Professional (Certification Study Guides). McGraw-Hill Osborne Media.

Schwalbe, K. (2015). Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.

Verzuh, E. (2015). The fast forward MBA in project management. John Wiley & Sons.

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